Rebecca is ruined… ruined for #20 flies and fish that don’t show her her backing.
I understand.
She was driven to write a complaint letter to Andros South (read it there).
It’s been exactly one year since I came home from a week of fly fishing for bonefish at Andros South and I have a couple of bones to pick over the following issues I experienced (suffered) as a direct result of a week at Deneki Fly Fishing paradise.
Rebecca's first bonefish
I had to go home. I didn’t have that much vacation time or idle money and I needed to get back to my girls. However, the trip wasn’t over and the gang that I left added some members and kept going strong.
Luckily, Jim Klug was still there with a camera and he kept on putting it all in pixels (here’s the gallery of that second week).
Here’s one of the folks that joined just as I left. Miles Nolte is a name you might recognize. He’s an author and the new voice of angling at Gray’s Journal.
Nice fish Miles.
I got to talk to Miles a little in the lobby of the hotel before I headed back. He was excited about the week ahead. I can understand why. Wish I had been able to stay and head to the Island of Youth with Avalon, but, life was calling. I feel pretty fortunate to have been there for the week I was. It was a very special trip and one I’ll hold close for a long, long time.
Well… that looks interesting… very interesting indeed.
Some folks probably won’t like me posting that. It’s probably their secret. Luckily, there are enough secrets out there that they can’t possibly all be as secret as you think.
The Fin recently went to Turks & Caicos for round two of his DIY adventure.
the one hour of fishing you get when the sun is high enough to see fish until the first kid runs through the flat can be awesome.
So, for those of you keeping track, this last year has been a crazy one for me. I got back from Andros in April of last year to a critically low Domestic Tranquility Index that kept finding new lows, like, Congress Approval Rating kind of lows. That went on for a while until it was clearly not sustainable anymore.
Attorneys, stipulation orders, custody orders, new digs, new furniture, 50/50 split… ya know… just pure joy.
Now that is mostly all water under the bridge (but not like the tides kind of bridge where it flows one way in the morning and the other in the evening, this is permanent kind of flowing under the bridge). I moved beyond bitter or angry or sad a long time ago and that left me open for something wonderful.
That something wonderful and I are going to get hitched come September.
And… looks like the honeymoon will likely be at El Pescador. Yeah, I like the direction we are headed in already.
It will be good to be back, especially for the reason why.
Yeah… he’s pretty frigging good at this stuff. Check out Jim’s photo album over at Jim Klug Outdoor Photography.
The Tortuga, by Jim Klug
That's mine (the fish, the photo is by Jim)
Couldn’t pass up pointing you good, bonefish loving peeps to Deneki and their Catch magazine post.
Brian O’Keefe and Todd Moen from Catch Magazine joined us at Andros South last month, and today we get to share some of their work!
Check it out.
We started off today getting an unexpected shot at a nice permit… a black tale sticking up through the wave about 40 feet away. I made the cast, had a follow and a little jack grabbed the fly before Mr. Permit could.
After that I broke off a bone, lost one in the mangroves and was starting to get a little frustrated. Then… the day turned around. My boat-mate, Charlie, caught his first fly caught bone, then his second and third. We found a school of bones that just wouldn’t spook and we caught bone after bone.
Then, we went looking for tarpon. We found them. We fished a deep cut with sooooo much life, it was just amazing. There were jacks busting bait and tarpon rolling and cudas crushing little bait fish. It was happening all around us and it was awe inspiring. Felt like being transported back in time to some virgin bit of paradise.
I had a tarpon eat my black death bunny about 20 feet off the boat. I was sure I had a good hook set on him, but he spit the hook on the first jump. I was shaken… literally. Took me a few minutes to get composed (but it was the kind of being ruffled with a big smile on my face). Had a second shot and a good hoot set. The fish took off and then jumped (caught on camera, I’ll get it up when I can) and then came off. I even jumped a third tarpon. A nice tarpon. Maybe 60 pounds. Awesome.
It was just a fantastic, wonderful day with Avalon guide TiTi and boat-mate Charlie. I caught somewhere around 5-7 bones, three snappers, a horse eyed jack (15 pounds) and jumped three nice tarpon.
We’ve even seen Franco this evening, the saltwater croc that hangs around the houseboat.
One of the most enjoyable days I’ve had on the water.
Yes... it is as awesome as it looks here.
I’m here… finally. The night in Cuba got off to a late start. Things don’t move quickly in Cuba and it didn’t help that Jim got held up because he “had a lot of camera equipment.”
We know now a bit about the nightlife in Cuba… which is a bit insane. We rode is some vintage American made cars for taxis and basically stayed up all night and got on the bus at 4:30. I passed out in the lobby and missed the sing along, which I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.
A 3 hour bus ride and a 3 hour boat ride and we got here. Quick lunch and off to the skiffs.
I landed 2 bones and a cuda in the abbreviated day. Soooo nice to be out on the water again.
Avalon Guide Ti Ti had sharp eyes, spotting every fish before I did and spotting some I never saw.
Two tarpon passed by while I was releasing the second bone.
Pics to follow at some point. The internet is pretty slow, so I’ll do what I can.
You hear about all those tornadoes in the Dallas area? Yeah, me too. I was flying through Dallas but figured a) American would let me know well in advance if there was a problem and b) They’d probably clear the planes quickly to fly again.
a – fail
b- not so much
Somehow, it is all going to work out. I’m now going through Chicago, where I get to sleep on the floor tonight, and tomorrow I’ll arrive in Cancun at 11:25. I need to meet the crew at the Cancun airport at noon. So… see? It all works out.
Other good news is that my bag is 48.5 pounds (a whole pound and a half to spare!). All my reels are in that bag, so that’s good.
If my luggage doesn’t make it, I’ll at least have the rods and reels. Beyond that I’ll be a bit screwed, but, that’s just a part of travel and life and at some point you have to be optimistic.
Life’s an adventure.
I think I'll take earthquakes over these things.
